IEA Blog

Early Career Epidemiologists attending the African Field Epidemiologists Network (AFENET) Scientific Conference seemed to value IEA. The conference was held in Maputo, Mozambique, during 12-16 November. Representing IEA at the conference were IEA President Henrique Barros, IEA Africa Regional Councilor Akindele O. Adebiyi and members Armand Nkwescheu and Samuel Akinbosede.

More than 65 epidemiologists stopped by the IEA booth during the first day of the conference, and by the conference end, 41 early career epidemiologists had joined IEA. During the meeting, IEA President was also able to visit with the minister of public health.

The next meeting in Africa will be the IEA-Africa Regional Conference, 14-17 April, 2019 in Maputo, Mozambique. Pictures from the AFENET meeting are featured below.

The African Epidemiological Association in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Mozambique and the International Epidemiological Association will be hosting the 5th IEA-Africa Region conference with the theme: “Epidemiology for sustainable development in Africa” Sub-themes: • Epidemiology, policy development and community health (including environmental Epidemiology) • Disease surveillance and response • Epidemiological transition & NCDs • Methods in epidemiology • Delivery science and implementation research Highlights: • Up to 60 partial and full scholarship opportunities • Master classes in Portuguese and English language • Pre-conference workshop • Early Career Epidemiologist session • Joint AFENET/IEA session on “Future of training and practice of epidemiology in Africa” • Innovative session on “Science of evidence/new horizon in epidemiology” • Moderated E-poster sessions

The Global Meeting of GOARN member institutions and networks was held at Centre International de Conférences Genève, Geneva Switzerland on 5-7 December 2017 to discuss global priorities and challenges in epidemic alert and response, the strategic direction of GOARN, endorse important areas of work for operations and development, and contribute to concrete work plans and activities in the coming years. The meeting targeted decision makers and operation leads of partner agencies, and key stakeholders who can provide critical inputs and agree on participation in collaborative opportunities on behalf of their institution.

The Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network – also referred to as GOARN – is a global technical partnership, established in 2000 by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a key mechanism to engage the resources of technical agencies beyond the United Nations for rapid identification, confirmation and response to major international public health emergencies.

GOARN currently comprises over 400 technical institutions and networks (and their members) across the globe. These Partners include medical and surveillance initiatives, regional technical networks, networks of laboratories, United Nations organisations (e.g. UNICEF, UNHCR), the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (ICRC, IFRC), international humanitarian non-governmental organisations (e.g. Médecins Sans Frontières, International Rescue Committee, Epicentre), and national public health organisations. All have the ability to pool their resources rapidly to assist affected countries requiring support.

Dr. Henrique Barros, President, IEA and Dr. Vinod Srivastava, WHO Liaison, participated in this meeting on behalf of IEA.

The meeting of the World Congress of Epidemiology was held in Saitama, Japan, which started on August 19th, and there was a Business Meeting on August 20th, 18:00-20:00, JST. Click on the links below for an agenda, and a draft minutes from the previous Business Meeting, held in 2014, in Anchorage, Alaska. The Meeting was open to all IEA Members.

Congratulations to Professor George Davey Smith from the University of Bristol in the UK, who has been awarded the IEA’s Richard Doll Prize for 2017.

George was co-editor-in-chief of the International Epidemiology Journal from 2000 to 2016. With over 1200 peer-reviewed publications, George led important developments in life-course epidemiology, Mendelian randomisation and methodology, as well as contributing to many large-scale international collaborations. The Prize will be awarded at the IEA’s World Congress on Epidemiology in Saitama, Japan on 19-22 August, 2017.

The next IEA World Congress of Epidemiology will be held in Saitama, Japan on 19-22 August 2017. The venue is about 25 minutes away from Tokyo, by bullet train.

The conference theme is global, regional and local health and epidemiology in a changing world. The first call for abstracts is now open. Further information is available on the conference website http://wce2017.umin.jp/welcome/index.html

The South East Asian Region of IEA held a workshop and training meeting on 10-15 April 2017 at Pokhara, Nepal, on the epidemiology of non-communicable diseases. The workshop and training meeting was attended by 86 scientists from Nepal, India, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. The Workshop focused on evidence based strategies for prevention and control mainly for cardiovascular diseases, but also for chronic kidney diseases, stroke, diabetes, cancer and mental health in South East Asian countries and globally.

The workshop was inaugurated by Dame Valerie Beral from the University of Oxford, and IEA. The keynote address was given by Dr. Jos Vandelaer, World Health Organization Representative to Nepal. Both emphasized the key role of epidemiology in addressing non-communicable diseases in South East Asia.

The Richard Doll Prize, to commemorate his contribution to epidemiology, is awarded by IEA every 3 years. The prize is for scientific achievements in epidemiology that have advanced understanding of conditions that are important for population health.

The deadline for nominations for the 2017 Prize is 21 April 2017. For further details please click Richard Doll Prize.

The International Epidemiological Association (IEA) will provide partial support towards the course fees of the 30th Residential Summer Course in Epidemiology, on a competitive basis, for *1* *IEA member** from low or middle-income countries *(including new members). Those interested should write to eepe@eepe.org no later than *April 4, 2017*, attaching a copy of their CV and a short statement on why they would like to attend the course.

The course (*Florence, Italy, 19 June – 7 July 2017*) is intended for epidemiologists, statisticians, clinicians and public health practitioners with an interest in epidemiology. The course offers in the first two weeks five general modules on epidemiological study design and statistical analysis of epidemiological data, and in the third week seven special modules on topics of current relevance for health and advanced methodological issues. The course is taught in English by an international faculty and is held in residential form in the “Studium” centre on the hills of Florence.